Buzz: Mega millions, Pepco & Congress

By
Lori Aratani

Good morning. So did you wake up a mega-millionaire today? Me either, but there were at least two winners. Winning tickets were purchased in Idaho and Washington state. So if you've got friends or family in the West, perhaps it's time to give them a call. Just to, ahem, check in. Meanwhile, it's Wednesday and here's what's going on:

Pepco in Montgomery County. Montgomery County officials will hold a public hearing on Pepco service this evening in Rockville. Officials are seeking feedback from customers on their experiences with Pepco outages and their overall level of satisfaction with the utility's service. The hearing will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Stella Werner Council Office Building, 100 Maryland Avenue in Rockville.

Election season not over in D.C. D.C. has a new mayor and a new council chairman, but it turns out election season isn't quite over in the District. There's still an At-Large seat to be filled on the council (the one vacated by Kwame Brown, when he became council chairman). There will be a special election to fill the seat on April 26, but until then a high-stakes battle is breaking out between Democrats over who will be appointed to fill the seat until voters have their say. Some thought former D.C. Council member Vincent B. Orange might have the edge -- instead it looks like Sekou Biddle, a member of the State Board of Education might have the edge.

A new record. Officials at Washington Suburban Sanitary District said the agency set a new record in December 2010 for repairs to broken and leaking water mains in a single month – 647, surpassing the previous record of 608 set in January 2009. WSSC crews repaired 2,096 broken and leaking water mains in 2010, just 30 breaks shy of the all time record of 2,126 set in 2007. Between 2007 and 2010 WSSC experienced 7,728 breaks and leaks.